August 15th marked the 100-year anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal. Coincidentally, August also brought a visit from Dr. Peter H. Dana who had the distinct pleasure of conducting research about the canal in his grandfathersâ papers. Housed in the Kelvin Smith Library Special Collections, The Allston Dana...

The Scholarly Resources and Special Collections team collaborated on an exhibit this fall entitled "Around the World in 80 Books", a presentation of travel-related books and manuscripts in accord with the 2013 Octavofest Travel theme. Over the past year or so the team has experimented with selection and display of...

If asked, many people would define a library as a building that houses books. While this is an adequate description, many people donât realize the sheer amount of personnel, knowledge and work needed in order to keep a library running smoothly, efficiently, and into the future. Books donât magically...

Following a short summary of this yearâs Octavofest events at Kelvin Smith Library, this blog provides tips from a conservator on how to preserve your paper-based travel journal(s). Kelvin Smith Library supports and actively participates in Octavofest, a multi-institutional yearly celebration of book and paper arts unique to Cleveland, Ohio....

"Nothing is worth printing that is not worth printing well, accurately, beautifully; yet with simplicity and at moderate cost, so as to be within the reach of everyone" was the belief expressed by the private publisher Thomas Bird Mosher of Portland, Maine. Active during the years of the private press...

Barclay S. Leathem began teaching in the English Department at Western Reserve University (WRU) in 1921 while a law student. (He received his law degree in 1924.) He moved to the Speech Department in 1927 to teach the first theatre classes at WRU. Barclay Leathem in the classroom, Western Reserve...

The post-World War I era saw a number of significant changes in the national professional theatre dynamic, most notably the end of road company empires, the rise of motion pictures, and the collapse of the big stock companies. At the same time came the rise of the non-commercial theatre in...

The rare book holdings include one of the most beautiful color seashell books ever published, Conchology, or, The natural history of shells, by George Perry, which appeared in 1811. In the opening paragraph of his Introduction he states: "The study of Shells or testaceous animals, is a branch of...

The Womenâs Committee of the Cleveland Play House was founded to further the interests of the Play House, initially serving as liaison between the theatre and the public. The first Womenâs Committee meeting was held in the Brooks Theatre in May 1932 at the request of the Board of Trustees....

Restoration of Charles W. Wason's "Letters of a Trip Around the World"

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:34:43 EST

Working in a Preservation Department of a university library is a challenging and rewarding job. One of the most enjoyable activities involved with this profession is the conservation of rare and historic bindings. I recently had the opportunity to restore the damaged binding for a unique book with ties...

Our postings on the great publishers and printers continues with the house of Elsevier. The Elseviers were a Dutch family of printers, publishers and booksellers who flourished in Holland for over one hundred years from about 1585 until 1712. They were one of many fine printing establishments that conducted...

Special Collections is the repository of a collection of over 5,000 bookplates from a handful of collectors who pursued that fascinating hobby. Begun with a gift in memory of their daughter Lucia to Western Reserve University by Mr. & Mrs. Paul Lemperly in 1917 the collection continued to grow through...

Though the Cleveland Play House struggled early on to find itâs financial and managerial footing, there was never a lack of artistic talent available to produce first class promotional material for a wide variety of productions each season. By 1922, the number of hand-drawn programs and playbills had been augmented...

http://blog.case.edu/ksl/specialcollections/2012/07/06/summer_interns

Summer Interns

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:06:18 EST

Our processing efforts received a boost this summer through the work of three students, Mike Muth, Michael Wilson, and Char'ta Cleggett. Michael and Char'ta were part of University Circle, Inc's Future Connections program, a summer internship program for rising high school seniors. Mike joined us as an intern in Kent...

The Preservation Department of Kelvin Smith Libraryâs Scholarly Research and Special Collections team received the phone call on Wednesday, June 13th, a perfectly normal day. Workmen on the roof were performing maintenance on an air-conditioning unit when suddenly a water pipe burst, sending water cascading through the ceiling and onto...